Monday, November 30, 2009

It appears that the Mayor Sam Blog and its contributors have basically become an unofficial mouthpiece for the campaign of Paul Krekorian. The latest round of hysteria-inducing propaganda from them comes in the form of an article which plays fast and loose with the truth and basically just makes a bunch of wild accusations without having any basis in fact.

But, this is par for the course with the Krekorian campaign, an organization that will stop at nothing to win the Special Election in Council District 2. Former ridiculous behavior from Krekorian includes playing the ethnic and racial card by claiming that Christine Essel had some type of opinions about the Armenian Genocide simply because a few of her campaign donors were of Turkish descent. A candidate who plays this card is basically race-baiting and fanning the flames of ethnic conflict and intolerance. It is despicable behavior and something that should never have happened.

The latest salvo of absolute lunacy is a letter which Krekorian writes to Christine Essel accusing her of stalking him and his family, even though Christine Essel was never present at his home and Paul Krekorian has no facts on which to base his wild accusations. But in the delusional world of Paul Krekorian, he is always the victim and everyone else is always conspiring against him.

Michael Higby, never one for subtlety, tries to increase the effect of the hysteria-inducing propaganda piece by headlining the story "Krekorian Home Stalked". Again, even though Higby has no actual facts, he is willing to throw out wild accusations.

Now, let me be the first to say that it certainly is possible that a man came to Krekorians fake Valley Glen apartment building and may have taken a few photos. But he could have been a reporter, or a blogger. There is no proof that the man worked for Christine Essel. Any news hound might have wanted to prove that Christine Essel or Paul Krekorian weren't really living in the apartments they rented in order to change their voter registrations and run for office in this District. Any competent political campaign would understand that their opponent might try to take pictures of them in an unflattering situation, or maybe even being caught living at a different address than the one in which they claim to be living. This would be something that any political figure should not only understand, but should come to expect.

Instead, Krekorian ratchets up the hysteria to present himself as a "victim" of the terrible Christine Essel, even though he has no factual basis for any of his claims.

The loaded language is ridiculous. For example...

"The intruder fled".

Oh really? What makes him an intruder?

"...lie about me as you see fit"

And this letter from Paul is filled with truth?

"stalking my wife and young children at our home"

"This is outright thuggery"

I have to admit, when it comes to fear-inducing hysterical tirades, Krekorian is pretty good.

"the people of our district expect and deserve that from us"

Mind-boggling hypocrisy from Krekorian here. Neither he nor Essel lived in the district before running for office there and at a recent forum Krekorian was forced to admit he had never lived in Council District 2.

"Let's talk about issues and records and leadership and vision."

OR, if that doesn't work, we can always do some race-baiting, some whining, a lot of finger-pointing and some good old-fashioned fearmongering.

Krekorian is really revealing a lot about himself through his behavior in this campaign. His opponent, Christine Essel, has mainly focused her criticisms on Pauls poor behavior as a State Assembly Member in Sacramento and has focused on his ridiculous budget-destroying voting record while working there. Paul, on the other hand, has shown that he will use any distractionary or diversionary tactic in the book to get attention. He has repeatedly tried to portray himself as some type of victim, even though he is the elected official in this race.

I will discuss this more in an upcoming article : Paul Krekorian : Unfit For Office

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Last night the story I wrote on the Mayor Sam blog a month ago was finally confirmed to be factual by two eyewitnesses to the event. Since Mayor Sam Editor and Blog Owner Michael Higby had the nerve to publish a disclaimer to the story, I wonder if he will be willing to go back and print a retraction now that Krekorians camp has been caught in a lie? I'm guessing... probably not.... being as he is so deeply in the tank for Paul Krekorian in this election. Higby and the other CD 2 supporters are drinking the Kool-Aid when it comes to Krekorian, a job-hopping career politician who has never finished an elected term without bailing out, abandoning his constituents, and running for another job.

The revelation came during an episode of the Internet Radio Show "Live LA Saturday Night" hosted by former Mayoral Candidate David Hernandez and former City Council candidate Frank Sheftel. Several callers called into the show last night. Degé Coutee called in to talk about Medical Marijuana and the current legal battle over the number of dispensaries here in Los Angeles. Famous City Political Activist David Saltsburg (a.k.a. "Zuma Dogg") called in to talk about marijuana a little bit, then turned his conversation to the upcoming CD 2 Election battle.

Zuma Dogg is no fan of Paul Krekorian and let the listeners know about it. He raged against Krekorian, saying that he is a "State-bankrupting, career-seat-jumping, elected official who has bamboozled a lot of unsophisticated suckers". Zuma Dogg repeated a long list of Chris Essel supporters and mocked Krekorian by saying that shady Councilman Richard Alarcon is supporting Krekorian.

Frank and David gave me a call during the show and we talked about my getting fired from the Mayor Sam blog. I told them that it was probably the result of my posting too many pro-Chris Essel stories and too many stories that were anti-Krekorian just by the fact that I was stating the truth about him. I talked specifically about my story link earlier in this post where I wrote about Paul Krekorian having a meltdown and a diva moment in the City Clerks Office months ago when he filed his papers to run for City Council for District 2 here in Los Angeles.

I mentioned how I had heard this story from several sources. It is a story that has staying power because even Christine Essel confirmed to me that she had heard the story long before I wrote about it. I asked David and Frank for their comments. David is currently running for office, so he didn't want to say much about it, but Frank was refreshingly candid, saying that while he was not the original source of the story, "I definitely was in the room and I witnessed what happened". He added that it "was a little bit inappropriate for a sitting State Assembly person." He backed up the story by saying "I won't leave you out there in the cold!"

The best part was when Frank quoted from Krekorians tirade at the City Clerks Office:

"GO #&*@ YOURSELF"!!

The reason I wrote the story was to let voters in CD 2 know what they are getting in Krekorian: A self-centered egomaniac who has has abandoned every elected position he has ever held in a greedy climb to the top. His reasons for running for LA City Council (even though he lives in Burbank) are simple. A cushy job with a fat salary. Sitting Council Members are rarely ever defeated, so if he wins on Dec. 8th, Krekorian can bank on this being his job for the next 14 years. If the voters of CD 2 choose him, then so be it. I just think they are making a poor choice if they do. His Socialist voting record in Sacramento and his freedom-hating liberalism has always bothered me. Watching him speak at campaign events has been like listening to a lecture from an ultra-politically correct college professor. But hey...some folks like that type of thing and there are a lot of people drinking the Kool-Aid for him right now.

Mayor Sam Blogger Joe Barrett called into the show to dispute my statements about what happened at Mayor Sam, and as usual, his flag-waving hysteria for Krekorian was disturbing. He and the other Sunland-Tujunga "leaders" endorsed Tamar Galatzan for this postion a few months ago, which means that they originally thought Paul wasn't the best guy for the job... but they have quickly changed their tune and become fanatical supporters of his - for some odd reason.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the link for November 28th and you can hear the whole show for yourself. It was interesting and entertaining. Congrats to Frank and David. They are doing a great job getting this show up and running.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Some of my pro-Christine Essel posts must have sent Michael Higby over the edge.

I had a feeling that we were headed to some type of confrontation over this, and my instincts were correct.

Higby just couldn't allow any more posts on Mayor Sam that bashed Paul Krekorian by telling the truth about him.

It was too painful. Too dangerous. Too close to an election.

I now join a long list of distinguished bloggers who have been fired from Mayor Sam. Michael Higby might be setting some type of unintentional World Record. He has the only blog in existence that has fired THREE former candidates for Mayor of Los Angeles. Walter Moore and David Saltsburg (a.k.a. Zuma Dogg) were the earlier ones to incur his wrath.

People might be curious for my reaction...

Am I angry? Am I upset? Surprisingly, the answer is... not really.

I think Higby could have handled it a little better.

I've never been a fan of one person taking unilateral action against another in a dispute without bothering to discuss it with the other party first. But hey, it is Higby's blog and he can do with it what he wishes.

I enjoyed the opportunity to write for the very famous and well-followed Mayor Sam Blog.

When I ran for Mayor of Los Angeles in March of 2009, I was an underfunded, unknown candidate and as such, I did not perform very well in the election. I feel that Michael Higby and the Mayor Sam Blog inviting me to write for them was a very positive outcome from what were some very negative election night results. I guess you could say it was a blessing in disguise. Previously, my writing skills had earned me my own newspaper column in college at the University of Wisconsin, and I certainly enjoyed entertaining my fellow students there at that time. I knew I could be interesting enough to keep political figures here in L.A. entertained and engaged in local events. I was happy to do it and I enjoyed my time there.

I'm quite proud of a lot of the things I wrote for Mayor Sam. I personally think my interview with Special Assistant City Attorney David Berger may have been one of the best things ever to appear on Mayor Sam.

I got a City official to open up and talk candidly about many political subjects and side issues in this town.

That doesn't happen everyday.

I'm currently working on a fascinating interview with another elected official, but now that interview will only appear only on my blog instead of Mayor Sam's. Their loss, I think.

Michael Higby has done a great service to the City of Los Angeles by creating and operating his blog.

People often got better political news from Mayor Sam than from the two major newspapers and all the TV stations combined. That's pretty high praise for Mayor Sam or near-total condemnation of the competence of other local media here in L.A. ... however you choose to look at it.

Was Mayor Sam perfect? No.

Even though Mayor Sam often had a breaking news scoop or some exciting exposés on City corruption and misbehavior, Mayor Sam could also be childish and petty. Higby allowed a lot of abusive behavior in the comments section at Mayor Sam. As a Conservative, I'm all for freedom, but when people made posts that were childish or petty, or just general insults instead of being on-topic, Higby and the crew should have disallowed them. Sometimes they edited those types of comments, but sometimes they didn't.

Higby claims to be a Conservative , but he often showed some very liberal tendencies by banning people when he didn't agree with them or didn't like what they had to say. I never agreed with the banning of Zuma Dogg. Zuma may have his own idiosyncrasies and issues, but he is like a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out facts about corruption and fraud in L.A. City government. Like it or not, Zuma Dogg affects the political scene here in L.A. Some of the City Council members end up reacting to issues he brings into the light.

Unfortunately, Michael Higby is so emotionally invested in Paul Krekorian winning the special election for City Council that he is allowing that choice to cloud his judgement. In fact, his choice to fire someone who was a lonely voice of dissent will probably make him look bad in the long run. It makes him look like he is against free speech. Why he is choosing to support an ultra-liberal who helped bankrupt the State of California is beyond my comprehension. Krekorian almost never voted no on any spending project whatsoever in all the time he was in Sacramento. To a Conservative, that type of voting record is pure lunacy.

Christine Essel is far from perfect (she's also a Democrat) but in her life she has never cast a single vote as an elected official that ever cost one voter a single penny of their money. Given the choice between the two of them, that is more than good enough for me.

I have many other things going on in my life to occupy my time, so in a roundabout way getting the axe from Mayor Sam is going to be very helpful. I need to devote more time to other projects, including my upcoming Congressional run in 2010.

I will continue to post here and will continue to fight the good fight.

My long term goal is to have Conservative Ideology dominate this country politically.

You might want to stick around. Things are going to get very interesting.

Personal freedom is under attack in this country - and not just at Mayor Sam!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

A city-wide crackdown on marijuana dispensaries launched by City Attorney Nuch Trutanich has ensnared an unusual political figure in its net. Craig X. Rubin, a well known marijuana advocate who ran for Mayor of Los Angeles in March of 2009, was arrested recently for his cannabis activism.

Rubin, who has appeared on the television series "Weeds", has led an activist lifestyle for cannabis for many years while working full-time as a pastor at The Family Church in Pasadena. Rubin has also been an outspoken critic of the LAPD Narcotics Division, whom he accuses of stealing millions of dollars from the people they arrest, pointing out the fact that cannabis is usually a cash business and the temptation for officers is very high.

Rubin claims that his arrest was politically motivated. "This prosecution is completely political retribution because of my outspoken stance in favor of cannabis against city officials who waste taxpayer money," Rubin said. Rubin adds to his claims of persecution the fact that City Attorney Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich has proposed a law that would affect only Rubin. It is already illegal to own and operate a cannabis club while on probation without the approval of the judge and the probation department. Nuchs proposed law would make that illegal, and Rubin claims that the only person out of the over 1,000 pot clubs in Los Angeles it would affect is himself.

The arrest and prosecution have brought troubling times to Craig X. Rubin and his family. Rubin's wife and children are staying in a hotel while Rubin is sleeping on the floor of The Family Church, trying to sell the lease to raise money for his family should he be incarcerated. Rubin raises some troubling issues when he says "Personally, I think Cooley and Trutanich should spend a week in County Jail. They stole the money my wife worked for over the last six months and the funds were in no way co-mingled with the church's money. These guys are thieves stealing peoples life savings without a hearing and prior to conviction."

Rubin and his wife Tara say that the local police took over $8,000 away from them when he was arrested.

Tara said their family had planned to lease a house with that money.

These are strong allegations by Rubin and I intend to contact the City Attorneys Office for comment or response.

Craigs trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 23rd at the LAX Airport Branch of the Superior Court.

11701 S. La Cienega. Division 146 at 8:30 am. Rubin asks that his fellow cannabis activists support him during his trial and help raise money for his defense.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Just out of curiosity I stopped by Christine Essel's campaign headquarters in Studio City today. I had never been there before. It was an unannounced visit, so I was surprised to find Christine there with several of her staffers.

The place was in high spirits and Christine was making call after call to voters and contacts. Sometimes Christine got so busy she had to hand off some of the calls to her staffers to finish up details and paperwork. Christine was overjoyed to find out that the PPL had decided to increase their Independent Expenditures (IE's) for her Council campaign. The total of IE's is getting close to half a million now.

In the outer hallway I saw enormous stacks of new yard signs getting ready to go out. The new ones state that "Our Local Police Support" Christine Essel. It's hard to imagine that there are voters who would intentionally choose sides against their own law enforcement officers, but I suppose it is always possible.

Some of her staffers were choosing from boxes of new campaign literature. The Essel campaign also received more positive news while I was there. They plan to announce this in press releases next week.

The Krekorian supporters will, of course, go crazy and complain that Chris Essel is buying this election.

But you know who complains that their opponent is buying the election?

Monday, November 16, 2009

The debate itself was not very interesting. Paul and Christine continued to state positions that they had both stated before. Nothing has changed. To be quite honest, I'm getting a little tired of covering this election.

It will all be over December 8th. Not a moment too soon for some Jennerjahn Report readers, I'm guessing.

When it comes right down to it, the voters of CD 2 have two choices:

Either they go with the rookie, Paramount Pictures Executive -- Christine Essel

Over 80% of the voters in CD are not even going to vote...so it makes you wonder why candidates have to kill themselves and raise millions of dollars for elections when most people don't care enough to participate.

Some of the most interesting things of the evening were happening on the periphery of the event.

In fact she was one of the people asking questions of the candidates. Of course, the LWV didn't allow audience participation on the off chance that someone might ask a troubling question.

Judy may have been disappointed that she couldn't kick Christine Essel out of the event.

(It actually would have ruined the debate)

Some of her least favorite CD 2 candidates were there in the crowd, but as far as I saw, she didn't demand that any of them leave. Frank Sheftel was there, so was Augusto Bisani, Pete Sanchez, and Michael McCue.

In fact I heard that Sheftel, McCue, and Sanchez had a secret meeting afterwards with blogger Paul Hatfield.

What were they discussing? I don't know. I 'll have to ask one of them about that....

Another fascinating event tonight was that I was approached by one of Krekorians staffers who asked me to "tone it down" when it came to the criticism of Krekorian on this blog.

Interesting.

Ok..let's get a few things straight.

My criticisms of Paul Krekorian are not personal. I don't know the man and have never spoken with him.

I don't have any personal grudge against him.

My criticisms are based on his behaviors and his votes and his career history. Nothing else.

I actually give him some credit. I think he is a smart guy and a career politician who knows how to say what people want to hear. But that is a dangerous type of person to start pinning your hopes and dreams on....and unfortunately, many other contributors to this blog are drinking the Kool-Aid and doing exactly that.

Krekorian bears responsibility for the State of California being in the shape it is now.

Socialist, politically correct nonsense has been the game plan of the State for years.

Running around handing out money like candy to those who demand it.

Their appetites just keep getting bigger.

It reminds me of the old quote by President Ronald Reagan.

"To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will."

Krekorian is the type of guy who runs around throwing raw meat to crocodiles.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

By this evening, I believe that Conservatives all over the nation will be celebrating the fact that we have temporarily put the brakes on the Obama "Freight Train Express" towards Socialism. I honestly believe in my heart that most Americans are somewhat Conservative and have a an instinctive sense of fair play.

They realize that the Federal Government has done a pretty good job of screwing up most programs it touches.

In a recent story segment on "60 Minutes", reporters revealed that criminals are ripping off Medicare/Medicaid for about $60 BILLION dollars every year!! In fact, most offenders never get caught. They just change addresses and move around to avoid detection. They interviewed one man who said he had ripped off Medicare for over 20 million.

Now, I ask you...would any private corporation... McDonalds...Fedex...The Gap.... would ANY of them accept the fact that criminals were stealing $60 Billion a year from them? The answer... hell no!

But as always with government, the problem is a lack of accountability. The type of accountability that the free market provides. Business people who make errors like this go out of business. Unfortunately, bad governments are just changed by changing the participants, but not the format of the game itself.

Tonight, I believe, is the high water mark for the left. Years from now they will look back and see they had the pinnacle of their power when planning and scheming to seize the entire medical field for themselves. Glory days of when they were talking about passing nonsensical enviro-activist job-killing Cap and Trade legislation.

Americans still believe in freedom and the right to control your own destiny. There are many "World Government" types that live in Europe...but not so many of them living here in the United States.

Doug Hoffman in NY-23 is going to be the shot heard 'round the country. Conservatives rejected a RINO and put a real Conservative in Washington. RINOs around the country will start trembling in fear. And they should.

Scozzafava's betrayal of her party - in dropping out and endorsing the Democrat - has been a miraculous gift for Conservatives. It has exposed the very essence of RINOs - that they have no true ideology and will turn on anyone or anything in a heartbeat. We need fewer of these people in government, and I think by the end of tonight...that we will have several fewer of them in power.